[lbo-talk] Bush admin pressed Brits to arrest suspects

[Gar Lipow]

On 8/13/06, andie nachgeborenen <andie_nachgeborenen at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Sorry if I sound like a stuffy legalist, but I am
> really not particularly happy about the thought of
> doing nothing until the next 9/11 or 7/7 happens just
> because sleazy politicians use the fact of terrorism
> for propaganda, Obviously I don't support a  "war on
> terror," I have said from the beginning that this
> should be treated as criminal activity.  Seems to be
> that so far the Brits are handling this one about
> right.
>
> As for Doug on the timing -- don't you think bin Laden
> et al. _want_ Bush, Blair, and their militaristic
> friends to win? Their wars are the greatest recruiting
> tools the al Qaida and its associate groups have, and
> democratic ideals hated throughout the Muslim world.
> If I were an Islamist planning a  terrorist attack,
> this is exactly when I'd plan it -- to give Bush and
> Blair the biggest boost I could.

Regardless of what Osama wants, the British police the ones who were
taking the lead in the investigation wanted to wait. They were
pressured by the Bush admin and Bush's  friends in Pakistan. Neither
the British nor the USA have shown any great respect for civil
liberties  since 2001.   But is there any particular reason you trust
the Bush administration's judgement over the judgement of British law
enforcement in an investigation mostly taking place on  British soil?